Lungz - Memories

While nobody’s completely immune to the pull of nostalgia, those who, like Lungz, spent their formative years surrounded by crack deals and shootouts may find it difficult to view their past through rose-colored glasses. Be that as it may, the Windy City repper’s first solo feature (he was previously heard as a guest on Grant Parks’ I’m Always High) should evoke fond Memories for at least one group of individuals—namely, hip-hop heads longing for a return to the golden age of gangsta. FX handles production duties, cooking up a funky, sampled groove that drips with slow-rolling retro ambiance as Lungz harks back to his days as a 19-year-old hustler, caught between the harsh realities of street life and his fantasies of high-rollerdom. He packs his bars with authentic detail, segueing from deadpan accounts of sleepless nights and shooting deaths to descriptions of the dream car hanging on his bedroom wall (”Sometimes I can see myself in it, chrome spinnin’...”). Has this gritty inaugural leak left you craving more? More street-certified freshness awaits on Lungz’ Don Cannon-hosted Dream Killaz street album, scheduled to hit the ‘net September 13.